Seven Gozo residents have been given awards for selfless and inspiring deeds in their community during the first Pride of Gozo Awards. The event was organised by the Rotary Club of Gozo and sponsored by the Ministry for Gozo in association with Times of Malta.

Those awarded are a 12-year-old who bravely swam the Gozo channel, a woman with terminal cancer who has devoted her final months to help relatives of other cancer patients, a tug boat captain who helped rescue a drifting tanker, a young lawyer who voluntarily assists migrants, a mayor who is fighting to conserve the natural environment, a young student who helps her single mother take care of her siblings, and a successful entrepreneur.

The awards were set up to acknowledge selfless residents of Gozo who are going out of their way to help their community become a better place.

Young Liam Daly was handed the under 16 award for swimming from Ċirkewwa to Gozo’s Mġarr ix-Xini last year to raise awareness about plastic pollution in the sea.

Linda Fryer, 70, was awarded the volunteer of the year award for setting up fundraising campaigns to help Gozitan relatives of terminal patients find accommodation in Malta as their loved ones near the end of their lives.

Tug master Kenneth Grima, 30, was handed a special award for helping rescue a massive tanker that was adrift and out of control in Maltese waters last year, in an operation that lasted eight days.

Lawyer Stanley Portelli got the professional of the year award for his voluntary work in a legal clinic run by the Church and the Jesuit Refugee Service. He works as a lawyer for migrants who suffer injustices.

Qala mayor Paul Buttigieg was handed the community award for his decades-long tireless work to save Ħondoq ir-Rummien from development.

Teenager Aliyah Pace Vincenti was given the student of the year award for managing to juggle school and helping her single mother raise her four siblings.

And Vini e Capricci owner, founder and entrepreneur Abraham Said was recognised as the businessman of the year for his work in building a food and drink emporium serving high-end products.

Rotary Club president Thomas Welch explained that the Pride of Gozo Awards were created to inject a much-needed dose of positivity in the community to recognise the work of so many unsung heroes who go out of their way to help others.